Epic Haq Ali Ali by Women’s Sufi Qawwali Ensemble Ilahi

Ilahi Sufi Qawwali sing Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s epic kalam Haq Ali Ali. It’s hard to find the words to express how proud and awestruck I am of these women. After two full years of hardcore dedication and commitment, I can now listen to Ilahi and genuinely say that women are now carrying the classical Sufi Qawwali tradition for the first time in known history. Not just the poetry or the music, but that true Qawwali spirit, which 25 years ago moved me to devote my life to it. The spirit of unity, brave creativity, passion, reverence, devotion and community, expressed in astounding harmony. A harmony that, in my opinion, is rare to feel between two people - let alone 13 of such diversity! This piece Haq Ali Ali, created by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, has always touched me profoundly; such a rich composition that travels through many chapters poetically as well as musically. To have heard it and been taught it by some of the greatest Qawwals of Pakistan, it fe